In the town of Sderot, Israel, located just over a mile from the Gaza Strip, children live under threat of instant death. This psychological torture is taking its toll. Two-year-olds know where the nearest bomb shelters are. They are taught to run to the nearest shelter when the neighborhood Tzeva Adom “rocket alarm” sounds.

The flight time of a Qassam rocket, fired from Gaza to Sderot, is about fifteen seconds, according to Israeli Defense Force officials. That is how long the children of Sderot have to save their own lives.

“After 15 seconds something explodes,” one IDF official said. “If you are in the wrong place that something will be you,” the official added.

Sderot has been enduring these rocket attacks since October 2001, according to Noam Bedein, director of the Sderot Media Center.

“We teach our children to run to the shelters in 15 seconds, while the Arabs teach their children to run to the rooftops, in order to act as human shields,” Bedein said.

The current cease-fire, which began on June 19, has been violated 20 times as of July 13, according to Israeli military sources. Ten rockets and ten mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel. Fortunately, they have all landed in open areas, causing no casualties or damage. The Israelis have exercised a remarkable amount of restraint militarily and continue to send food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, their enemies included.

Sderot, Israel has suffered from random rocket attacks since 2001. According to the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, since 2001 there have been 3,484 rockets fired from Gaza, 988 of which were fired in the first five months of 2008.